"Butterfly effect"
Mr. Howard ('Happy holidays, sir) mentions the "butterfly effect" of how wars start being a "Boys' Own" assertion.
Working in Berlin during the early 60s, I certainly felt that there was enough tinder around to set off a major conflagration, once the "Wall" was up, and even before that the tension could be felt as the "DDR" was leaking refugees to the West at a rapid pace - to the extent that the reception station(s?) in West Berlin were stretched to, or beyond, capacity. When young Peter Fechter was shot by Vopos and left to drown in his own blood as he hung on the wire and Russian and Allied tanks faced each other, there was a strong feeling that an "accident" was very close indeed, until first one side and then the other put their tanks into reverse, but stayed in sight of each other.
Later, as the "Cuba business" worked its way through, again, tension was high - in British HQ Berlin it was said that the easiest way to judge West Berliners' morale was to ring up a removals firm and check for the earliest date an outbound removal could be arranged: the later the date, the worse Berliners' morale.
It was quite remarkable how the tension dropped after Cuba, as Khrushchev said that West Berlin could be left on the vine to shrivel.
The "Cold War" for me, both as an early member of the V-Force and in Berlin was a very serious affair, whatever academics may now think.
I wonder if Mr. Howard plays poker?